Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Bought by Planning Directions Inc.

Planning Directions Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 11.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,727 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the quarter. Planning Directions Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $241,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Legacy Trust boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.5% during the third quarter. Legacy Trust now owns 55,410 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,251,000 after buying an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 71.0% during the third quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 3,613 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $473,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Essex LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 3.4% during the third quarter. Essex LLC now owns 27,121 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,549,000 after buying an additional 882 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.3% during the third quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 340,364 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $44,540,000 after buying an additional 4,490 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.7% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 313,381 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $41,009,000 after buying an additional 2,236 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price target (up previously from $160.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.82.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL opened at $171.95 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10. The company has a 50-day moving average of $147.85 and a 200-day moving average of $141.42. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $103.54 and a 1-year high of $174.71. The company has a market capitalization of $2.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.77 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 30.01%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total value of $2,985,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,332,691 shares in the company, valued at $309,548,095.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,402.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total value of $2,985,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,332,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,548,095.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 253,439 shares of company stock worth $36,746,578 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.